Secluded - Dimension EP

Secluded - Dimension EP
Following the release of their debut 12-inch, the London promoters-cum-label EarToGround step up with an even bigger hitter. And like the first record, the original tracks on Dimension are home-grown; another step in the crew's plan to push British techno. This time we're introduced to Secluded, who sounds a little like a steroid-enhanced Conforce.

The eponymous track heaves on a stocky broken beat, and rushes via a trickling delay effect. This latter part remains almost unbroken throughout the duration, maintaining a constant sense of tension. What recalls Conforce, however, are the icy-sounding tendrils that waft through the track's mid-section, later giving way to a three-note sequence of hypnotic adamantine stabs. Jonas Kopp's remix returns to 4/4 structure, making use of a big, flabby kick. This time, the delay effect is absent, with rimshots and claps moving in to keep the track galloping along. Additionally, digitised rustles and scrapes pepper the spectrum, with Kopp only allowing some vestige of the original's eerie tones to briefly creep out in the final quarter.

In "Confront," a simple waveform drones back and forth over a hefty kick and abrasive shaker. Apart from some extra bits of percussion and synth that bob up here and there, that's pretty much it. It works surprisingly well; Secluded always seems to add or subtract at exactly the right time. Resting on a similar kick and shaker combination, Markus Suckut's take is the least intimidating cut on Dimension, though that's not saying a great deal. Twisting the slow drones of "Confront" into a kind of resonant chirping, his remix moves in the smallest of increments, steadily increasing reverb or delay on individual elements before dropping them back to baseline.

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EarToGround Records was formed in 2011 after two years of throwing a series of parties at various venues in the capital, showcasing other label nights and giving a number of international artists thei
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